Relationship Between Ramapoughs And Polo Club Is Broken: Letter

Editor's note: The following in an open letter to the Ramapough Mountain "water protectors" from a Mahwah resident.

To the editor:

As most of you "water protectors" were not involved with the Ramapough Mountain Indian (RMI) property at 95 Halifax Road prior to 2016, you have confused facts with hyperbole and false information. For the sake of clarity, the following are the real facts.

• Ancestral land: In 1995, the lot at 95 Halifax Road was given to the RMI by the developer of the Polo Club Community because he could not develop it as the majority of the lot is in the floodway. Prior to 1995, the RMI did not use 95 Halifax Road. Old maps show it as a mining gravel pit. The RMI did have ceremonies elsewhere in and around Mahwah, but not at 95 Halifax Road.
• Floodway: The vast majority of 95 Halifax, about 90 percent, is in the floodway of the Ramapo River. When there are floods the Ramapo River flows through the lot; at times as deep as several feet.
• Conservation Zone: Restrictions on uses apply as 95 Halifax Road is in a Conservation Zone, with a Riparian area.
• Wildlife Habitat Restoration Project: In 2000, former RMI leadership worked with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife to create a Wildlife Habitat Restoration Project at 95 Halifax Road designed to protect the wildlife and river. The Wildlife Habitat Restoration Project flourished until 2008, when under current RMI leadership the Project was destroyed by clearing the land of all the plantings funded by U.S. Fish and Wildlife.
• Campground: The RMI established a campground at 95 Halifax Road in the summer of 2016. The area is not zoned for a campground. Having a campground where river flow flooding occurs is not wise and it is dangerous.

So, I have to ask why would "water protectors" destroy a wildlife habitat designed to protect the river and replace it with a campground with all kinds of structures and materials that can either block water flow or easily be carried downriver during a flood?

• Private Community: The Polo Club is a private community that owns the single lane bridge and roads that are the only ingress and egress for residents and 95 Halifax Road. High-volume traffic associated with a campground or public assembly poses safety issues for a community with a single lane bridge and narrow roads. The town recognized the safety issues when it required the developer to install a two-lane bridge for a proposed equestrian arena. The developer abandoned such plans.
• Relationship: The Polo Club and the RMI had a good relationship until the current RMI leadership established a campground in 2016 without proper approval. Prior to this time, Polo Club residents had worked with and made donations to help the RMI. I know this to be true as I was the president of the Polo Club from 2004-2014.

This relationship took a turn for the worse when the Polo Club was vandalized in May 2017. Security cameras were destroyed, street lights were blown out by way of shotgun and entrance and street signs were damaged. Total costs exceeded $12,000.

Two “water protectors” were charged with the altering the Polo Club security cameras days before the vandalism. Another "water protector” was indicted for the vandalism; charges included various weapon offenses, including the discharge of a firearm within 450 feet of a residence.

The good neighbor relationship and trust has been broken.

• Compliance with laws: The real issue here is non-compliance with the law. The current leadership of the RMI have chosen to ignore the law. The RMI have to abide by the same rules as any other resident or entity. The zoning use violations and high-volume traffic at the site pose safety issues for the Polo Club residents.

The purpose of zoning laws is to protect the health, safety and welfare of residents.

• Settlement proposal: In early 2017, as part of settlement discussions between Mahwah and the RMI regarding the zoning violations, Mahwah made a very generous land swap offer that would have exchanged the land at 95 Halifax Road for land surrounding Silver Lake that is not in a floodway. Furthermore, the Silver Lake area actually has significant historical and cultural meaning to the RMI, including proximity to Split Rock and a RMI cemetery. It is also closer to the proposed Pilgrim Pipeline.

In conclusion, I have to also ask:

Why didn’t the current RMI leadership accept the town’s generous offer?

Do the good people of the RMI want current leadership to continue to flout the laws, which has come at great expense (accruing fines) and detriment to their reputation and financial well being?

Tom Powers,
Mahwah, NJ

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